Adrian Midgley wrote: > On Friday 28 December 2001 13:53, John S. Gage wrote: > (In decidedly scholarly and measured fashion ) > > > Patent protection in the United States arises from the Constitution: "To > > promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited > > times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective > > writings and discoveries;" [Article 1, Section 8] > > IANA(C)L but that seems to me to bracket together copyright and letters > patent, as well as leaving the question of what a suitable limit on time is. >
It does bracket them together in terms of dictating that Congress provide such a mechanism. The duration of protection is set elsewhere as part of the US Code (the general laws, so to speak, of the US Government). Patent protection currently extends for 20 years from the date of issue. The US does allow patents on software and on the even more controversial "business methods". Copyright is much weaker protection which preserves the right of an author to restrict the reproduction and distribution of their work. Copyright, I believe, extends for the life of the author plus 70 years in the US.
